Chapter 16
Kasey
Sleep didn’t come gently. It pulled me under too fast, like slipping beneath cold water, and the room around me dissolved before I could hold onto it.
I was in the woods.
Not the real woods. This version was too bright, too quiet. The colors too sharp around the edges the way dreams always made them. The air smelled like pine and smoke from the fire we’d put out the night before. My shoes were damp with morning dew, and the sky was that pale, early blue that made everything looked washed out.
I knew this place. I knew it was morning.
I stepped out of the tent, the zipper sound stretching unnaturally long, echoing through the trees. The campsite was empty. No voices. No laughter. No clatter of pans or the rustle of sleeping bags.
Just silent.
I was the first awake, and I knew if I even thought of waking Evy up, I’d be in so much trouble. I’d be grounded from being with him at all for the rest of the camping trip.
I didn’t understand why Mama made that rule, but I still had to follow it. But that didn’t mean I had to lay there on my cot for hours while the rest of the world woke up.
I walked towards the creek, the way I had done a hundred times already in the past two days. My feet moved without me telling them to. The water glittered in the sunlight; the surface smoothed like marble.
I crouched down, touching the edge with a fingertip, and watched the way that a small single movement caused a ripple effect throughout the entire area.
Just the day before, Evy and I walked in the creek without shoes, letting the sand squish between our toes. It had been funny when a fish scared the boy who said nothing could ever scare him.
I really liked Evy, but the feelings couldn’t be put into words. Not for the eight-year-old me, at least.
A branch snapped behind me.
I turned, expecting to see someone. I hoped it was Evy. But instead, there were all tall trees. Too many trees to see clearly through. But there…. A shadow moved between them, stretching long across the ground.
Someone whispered my name.
When I didn’t move, the shadow grew taller. Closer.
I stood as the shadow became a person. A tall, looming man I had never seen before. He wore a dark cap, hiding his eyes, making him blend into the forest around us.
“Kasey.” He repeated, stepping even closer.
I scrambled back, slipping on the wet rocks and nearly falling into the creek.
This man wasn’t family. He wasn’t friends, either. I’d know. Because Mama made sure that I knew them all.
“There you are. Your parents are looking for you.”
“They said I could come here.” Didn’t they say I could if I woke up before them? They didn’t say I had to stay at the camp. Plus, I am eight now, almost nine. I could explore on my own. My cousins always did.
“I ran into them and they asked me to send you back to the trail. Something about needing to run into town to grab more ice.” The man took another step closer, and he pushed his hat just enough for his eyes to take me in better.
“I won’t hurt you. I just want to make sure you get to your parents safely.”
Well…. If he said he was just helping, then it would be true.
“Okay.”
He held out his hand, and I didn’t question my actions as I clasped my hand in his. “They are up the trail that way.” He pointed further away from where my camp was set up, upstream. But again, I didn’t question it. The main road was that way anyways.
The man, a Beta, let me lead, staying one step behind me for a few minutes. He talked about how he had a son my age, and they were camping close by. He said Mama wanted him to come by for lunch so we could meet.
